Generally, the ironing of clothing occurs on an ironing board having a flat surface made from metal or wood. An ironing board cover is generally placed over the flat surface. However, when the soleplate of the iron contacts the surface of the ironing board, high temperatures result, which may cause the fabric being ironed to burn. As a result, padding is generally placed between the ironing board and the ironing board cover to function as insulation between the ironing board and iron. The padding may even be incorporated directly into the manufacture of the ironing board cover. The padding also serves an additional purpose of providing a smoother and softer surface to enable the iron to more freely and smoothly traverse the surface of the fabric.
Generally, when a person is adjusting the article to be ironed, the iron is left supported by the heel of the iron in an upright position. When the person is finished ironing, the iron is placed in an upright position on the ironing board. One reason for placing the iron in an upright position is because of the high temperatures that the soleplate of the iron attain, for example, temperatures greater than the boiling temperature of water. As a result, if the iron tips over onto the fabric being ironed, or tips over onto furniture or a carpet, burning or discoloring may result. In addition, a steam iron left in its vertical position may tip and leak water from the pores of the soleplate onto an item, such as the fabric being ironed, furniture or carpet, thus possibly staining the item. Accordingly, it is desirable to have an iron which will remain stable in its upright position.
Known irons include rear covers or heel rests having a shape or a configuration not conducive to providing stability to an iron in the upright position when placed on soft surfaces.
Generally, heel rests for irons are flat, smooth and may contain a plurality of ridges. Such irons are disclosed in Van Surksum, U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 316,621 and 317,519; Gudefin, U.S. Design Pat. No. 326,939; Stutzer, et al., U.S. Design Pat. No. 349,377; and Simmon, U.S. Design Pat. No. 349,378. Irons having a heel rest are also disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 03-075100-A and German Patent No. 20 54 327.
Irons having a generally flat heel rest tend to tip over on a soft padded surface, thereby possibly burning the person ironing the clothes or causing a fire hazard to the household.
In this regard, Hensel et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,812, having a common assignee herewith, attempts to overcome the disadvantages of the above heel rests. The iron of this patent includes a heel rest having a recess in the outer surface so that the iron will be less likely to tip over while in its upright position on a soft surface. In such case, as the weight of the iron forces the soft surface downwards, the portion of the soft surface directly underneath the recess moves upward to fill in the recess. As a result, the soft surface in the recess acts as a barrier in the recess to prevent the iron from tipping over. However, even with this heel rest, it is possible that some slippage may occur.
Further, many irons provide a fill opening at the top for filling the iron with water. In some irons, a door is placed over the fill opening to prevent water from spilling out during the ironing process. For example, McMullen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,763 and Kubicz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,420 each disclose a fill door that is pivotally connected in overlying relation to the fill opening. However, such pivotal fill doors can be easily broken by a user and are not very stable.